Ever since its introduction in the mid 90s, Pokemon has become a worldwide phenomenon and over the years has become a name almost if not as big as Mario and Zelda for Nintendo. I remember being big in the Pokemon craze, I had trading cards (back when it was easy to buy them), went to some game tournaments, and was all in about every rumor of getting mew. Generation one, Pokemon red and blue to many is the games crown jewel, I personally would go with generation 2 (Gold and Silver) but to each their own. During this time the Nintendo 64 was in the middle of it’s run. It only makes sense for there to be a Pokemon game for the system. However, you can’t really do a full out Pokemon game on the Nintendo 64, that might have been a bit too ambitious.
One of my early Nintendo 64 memories was renting a game known as Pilotwings 64. There was a mode where you played as a bird man and you could take pictures. I always like being able to take the coolest pictures and getting the framing just right in each. The Birdman mode is such a turn your mind off and calming mode in the game. Pilotwings 64 is also a great game in its own right and maybe one day I’ll cover that one, it gets overlooked.
So when I heard a similar idea was going to be Pokemon’s Nintendo 64 debut, I got pretty excited. Not to mention we get to at last see our favorite Pokemon in a 3D environment. This was going to be my grand return to my audio blog but decided to switch to this blog instead. I wanted to talk about Pokemon Snap right before the release of New Pokemon Snap but it was not the case. The new game is still fresh on people's minds right? Still might be a good time to cover the original game.
Pokemon Snap, released in 1999 in the US plays like a rail shooter. I know that might sound like an odd fit for a Pokemon Game but hear me out. You play as Todd Snap, a Pokemon photographer who’s job is to get pictures of Pokemon in their natural habitat. You are locked into a driving vehicle known as the ZERO-ONE. They say it’s so you are not interrupting the Pokemon's natural habitat but I think it’s just explaining why the game is on rails. Honestly the rail shooter style for this game works, you are always looking around making sure you’re not missing something cool to take a picture of.
In Pokemon Snap, you see Pokemon all around you at certain times and Pokemon depending on the 7 levels of the game. You start on the beach and can only take pictures for now. You notice as you play that you only have 60 pictures to take, so don’t burn all your pictures on one or two Pokemon. You also notice there’s a few things that won’t interact with you just yet or that they will be turned around and you can’t get a good picture of them. You have to do something but don’t know what.
The goal of Pokemon Snap is of course to take pictures of Pokemon. Once you finish a level, Professor Oak will judge your pictures and give you a score. Oak will give you a score bonus’ based on how the shot is framed and if the Pokemon is facing the camera. He can also give you bonus points for poses, for example in the first level, you can use a pokeflute to get a Pikachu on a surfboard. Also seeing if you can take pictures of all 63 of the original 150 Pokemon to complete the game 100%.
As you progress to more levels, you will get items such as food, pester balls, and a Pokeflute. You can even get a dash engine after a while to speed up. This is where the game REALLY picks up and shines the most.
Once you get a new item you want to go back to the early levels and see if you can get that one Pokemon that would not interact with you to turn around and get that perfect picture. You can also use these items on Pokemon and they might hit a switch. An example of items used well is in the Cave level. In the level a Koffing is attacking a Jigglypuff. If you save all 3 of them, they have a little concert at the end of the level and you can take a picture of it and get a huge score out of it.
It pays to pay attention and look around to make sure you are seeing all the Pokemon you can. The radical might move slowly for some but I think it works here. It really wants you to look around and I believe that if the turning was more loose and sensitive, you can just see everywhere quickly. It’s an interesting case where limiting the player adds to the game’s mechanics. That’s where the magic of Pokemon Snap is. The game pulls off repeating levels of repetition wonderfully. You do have to play levels over and over again and there’s only 7 levels in all.
The biggest complaint I hear people have with the game is that it’s short, and that is true. You can beat this game in an afternoon easily if you wanted to. However, if your goal is to simply beat the game, I think you’re missing a huge part of what makes Pokemon Snap a good game. This game is not about an end goal, it’s about perfection and mastering the skill of photographing Pokemon. Trying to get that perfect shot. It might be the best example of how repetition of levels can be done and done well. If your goal for Pokemon Snap is to get to the end, then you are just focusing on the destination and not so much the journal.
One thing that was really cool about Pokemon Snap was you can take your copy of the game to a local Blockbuster or Lawson store in the US and put it into a photo booth machine and print out the pictures you have in the game as stickers. Sadly I did not get a Blockbuster near me until about 2001, so I never got to test this thing out in person.
Near the end of the game you have to find the 6 Pokemon signs, monuments that look like Pokemon. Doing so will get you to the final 7th level of the game. There’s only one Pokemon in the final level but it’s the rarest Pokemon at this time, Mew!
Overall the game is pretty good for being one of the first Pokemon games on the Nintendo 64. Part of me feels like this game was a thing because a full out Pokemon adventure would not be possible for the Nintendo 64 therefor this was kind of the way to see Pokemon in 3D for the first time. Like I said before, this game is not about beating it, it’s about perfecting it.
To be quite honest, after years of no sequel I thought the Snap series was one and done. When New Pokemon Snap was at last shown it was quite the pleasant surprise for me. I’m excited to see how the new game will play seeing how it’s on a much more powerful system and much more can be done with it. Not to mention sharing pictures with friends has become more of a thing than ever before with the rise of social media. I’m excited to see how New Pokemon Snap does, but if you ever wanted to get a feel for Pokemon in its early days, Pokemon Snap is not a bad place to look. Thank you for reading.
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